Was going to go training again tonight but I'm feeling really beaten up and my knee is flaring up again. With just over a week to go I decided to give it a rest till Monday.

So I'll share a few thoughts for anyone wanting to start mma or have your first fight.a lot of this advice comes directly from my coach and other fighters I train with so;
1)if your starting out research the different gyms in your area. Look for reviews through mma websites and forums like this one.
2)your first day training is going to be like the first day of school.theres gonna be a lot of information and techniques you won't understand but keep at it and it will come.
3)follow the rules of the gym/coach. If it says no zips/buttons then don't wear them. If your told to wear shin guards for sparring,wear them!rules are their to keep you safe and not following them is disrespectful and stupid.
4)introduce yourself.everyone may look meaner,stronger and better than you but don't be afraid to introduce yourself, they have all been in your position before.
5)buy the correct equipment.if your serious about doing this, buy the right equipment and look after it/keep it clean,
6)clean your equipment
7)personal hygiene!!! Cut your nails short,wear clean clothes,equipment,shower before training (nothing worse than rolling with a smelly person)
8)as soon as you finish training,get a shower. There are all kinds of diseases/bugs, if you keep clean then you are less likely to catch or pass on disease.
9)listen to your coach,they know best!If they tell you to do something,even if it sounds stupid,there is probably a very good reason for it!
10)if you are wanting to fight, tell your coach you want to, but let them be in control of when. They know better than you when you are ready and how to get a fair match.

I must admit, before I trained mma, I thought I was fit as a fiddle. How wrong I was. Be prepared to sweat,blowing out of your arse and to hurt. But I promise you, when training finishes you will feel great!Plenty of times I felt like I really couldn't be arsed training but I've dragged my arse there and felt better for it afterwards.

Thanks mate.il check out your blog.anything that helps each other is always good.

Just a small update.
My opponent has backed out with a week to go but the promoter is in the process of filling the void.theyve got someone in mind and hopefully should be confirmed by tomorrow,fingers crossed.
Must admit i was a bit pissed off but cos but as long as I get to test my skills at the end o the week il be happy.

It was a strange feeling finding out that he'd pulled out. I had started I feel more and more nervous about the fight,but now I'm nervous that I'm not ping to fight,so hopefully I can use this should a fight go ahead.

Looking through the posts on this bit of the forum it seems that Am fighters drop out of fights quite a bit. On one hand I can understand it as ' real life' can get in the way, but I'd agree with your coach- once you've committed, no backing out unless you're injured. Hope you can get a new oppo in a week. Good luck!

Great news, a replacement has been found so my fight is back on. Although this will not be his debut, he is 1-2 so will be an even greater challenge for me.

Training last night concentrated on wrestling from standing, finished with some rolling from poor position. Went through a couple of things ingot wrong with one of the pros.

My weight as of this morning was 93.3 kg so bang on what I need to be. I'm feeling the nerves a lot more now.
I have sold a few more tickets and I'm going to have a big turnout of friends and family but I have to remember to forget all that and block it out.

I think there is a lot to be said about the physiology of fighting. What found is that I have two types of training that work for me. When I'm being shown new things and have to learn new techniques I seem to relax and take it all in. Even have a laugh about things. When it comes to fitness training and sparring i tend to be a lot quieter. I try and get into a zone (it sounds pretty clichè but that's the only way I can describe it). It takes a while to get into it. There are certain things I can do to help me get there, certain music and repetitive thoughts I use. I tell myself don't be afraid to get hurt over and over if I'm sparring and to push through it. I tell myself I'm not afraid of what the other guy will do, and to fight my own fight.

If I'm being mounted il say over and over in my head "shrimp,shrimp,shrimp"until I can escape into half guard, then start e process again until I can get into full guard.

I've never written down what I think when sparring before and it sounds quite strange but it works for me.

When I'm training fitness, il concentrate on a single point and ignore everything else. This quickly keeps me in the zone and focuses me.
Thinking back I used the same technique when I played football and it got me fired up for the game.

This is the first time I've consciously thought about it and what I do to prepare myself and I'm glad I did because I know that subconsciously I have learnt to prepare myself, and I don't have to worry about being mentally ready, because I already know that I will be come fight time.

Thanks to ghostdog for this. I read your blog and there are some parts in there about what your thinking when your training and it made me think about how that mirrors what I do. I guess everyone has different ways to prepare mentally for their fight/match,I'm happy to know that even tho I feel nervous about the fight, I know that I am ready for it and won't be overawed about what's to come on the day.

Training went well tonight.worked on our fitness and stand up game before sparring.

Did 5,3minute rounds of standup sparring and 2,5 minute rounds mma in the cage.
The 2 mma rounds were with 2 of the best fighters at the gym one after the other with 1 minute rest. They worked me very hard and to be fair dominated me but it was good to defend against fighters far superior to me for 10 minutes.
I'm fighting 3,3 minute rounds so its great that I went 10 minutes in the cage (was tapped out twice but showed me my week points) after the 15 minutes of stand up.

The fight team is becoming like a second family. One of the lads is quite ill and after speaking to him last night he said its great that the fight time is getting closer again. Everyone is looking out for each other and it helps.

Being tapped twice would usually frustrate me (I have a highly competitive nature) but afterwards we spoke about things I could do better and things I did really well. Having only been training at the gym 13 months its great to know that the top fighters really do look out for the newbies and aren't just interested in their own development.

Just weighed myself now I'm home, 93.5kg. The healthy eaten is working but I admit I do feel a little underpowered even tho I've only dropped about 4kgs from my walking around weight. I think it's because I do tend to eat a lot and cutting down on my food intake is effecting me slightly but it will also allow me a little room to have a few good sized meals the day before if I'm slightly under 94kg.

We worked on wrestling and takedowns. We worked in groups of 3 (I was grouped with the heaviest fighter and one of the best.....joy) and it was two on one....... The one person had to defend takedowns from the other two who would randomly shoot in. Once we were taken down we had 30 seconds to stand back up or sweep. It was one of the hardest sessions I've had but it gave me confidence that I could take people who are better and more experiences than me down (even if I did struggle to keep them there). This was pretty much the whole class so until we had a few rounds of rolling at the end.

Tonight was my last night training before my fight Sunday. I'm working in London tomorrow and then relaxing on Saturday. We did an hour on our stand up and then Mr X's class was afterwards. We worked on passing guards and fighting for position, with a few cheaky moves to get out of a tight mount that I will definetly use on Sunday if need be.

At the end I sat down with Mr X, my coach and another fighter and spoke about Sunday and a strategy. The head coach won't be there on Sunday to corner me so he wished me luck. I said win or lose, it's going to be a great day and experience. He corrected me,by saying when you win,itl be an awesome experience!

I have one of the fighters who is also cornering me a lift home. He told me to not think about the fight after tonight until Sunday. He explained the difference between sparring and fighting. Sparring is a good test. You work on technique but your not looking to hurt your opponent. When you fight,everything you do is to hurt them. Kicks,punches,grappling is all done 120% with the sole purpose of hurting your opponent. When your in there, you have to imagine he is the worst person in the world (not exactly his words,had to clean them up on here) and your sole purpose is to destroy him. After, you can buy him a beer,have a laugh and a joke, but until then he is your worst enemy. He finished off by saying not to worry and to enjoy the whole experience.

Gotta admit I am feeling less nervous than earlier this week and more excited now. No doubt over the next few days that will change. On Sunday I am going in that cage for one reason,to win! Everything else is a bonus,the experience,the day out,all extras that will be great,but it will be so much sweeter WHEN I win!

On a final note for tonight,
For the first hour I was training with a new starter. I had not seen him before so introduced myself. He seemed quiet so I hot chatting with him and it seemed to put him at ease. It reminded me if my first day at the gym and how intimidating it was to walk into the gym,never mind speak to someone. We had abit of a laugh and worked each other hard and he decided to stay for Mr X's class. He said at the end he enjoyed it and will be back.

I've seen quite a few first timers never come back so to know that he will come back and even stayed for the second class is great.

Il next update maybe Saturday night with my thoughts and feelings before the fight, but if not,il let everyone know how the fight goes.